


Watching headlights, something don't feel right.

by WritingWarships



Series: With great family comes great responsibility [1]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Anxiety, Anxiety Attacks, Big Brother Peter Parker, But Morgan did, Domestic Fluff, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Hurt Peter Parker, Hurt Tony Stark, Irondad, Light Angst, Morgan Stark is precious, Ned Leeds is a Good Bro, Nightmares, Nobody died in endgame, Not really an endgame spoiler, Panic Attacks, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Peter just needs a break, Precious Peter Parker, Sensory Overload, Sickfic, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Worried Ned Leeds, kind of, no beta we die like men, slight mention of death but like its nothing serious, spiderson
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-05
Updated: 2019-05-05
Packaged: 2020-02-26 15:04:18
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,686
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18719485
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WritingWarships/pseuds/WritingWarships
Summary: Happy gave him a nod before starting up the car again and Peter gratefully let himself lean against the car window. He could take a little nap before they would arrive at their destination. Within 10 seconds he was out like a light, and in hindsight that hadn’t been one of his smartest decisions.AKAPeter gets a panic attack and the family Stark helps him out.





	Watching headlights, something don't feel right.

Peter should have known it was going to be a crappy day when he woke up by falling face first on the floor. He groaned loudly from where he was lying on the cold floor of his bedroom before trying to untangle himself from his bedsheets. He had been having a nightmare again. They didn’t come as often as they used to, but they would still plague him from time to time. Tonight had been one of those nights. When he tried to recall what the nightmare had been about he could only remember small parts of his dream, but those were bad enough to make him want to forget it as soon as possible.

 

A soft knock sounded from his bedroom door, followed by May’s voice, “I know you’re awake because I heard you falling out of bed. I made pancakes so hurry up and come get one before they get cold.” The retreating footsteps told Peter that May had already returned to the living room and he was safe to let out another groan. She was trying to make it a habit to cook more, and while it was a good habit to have, the things she made weren’t always nice on Peter’s stomach.

 

Peter finally managed to untangle himself from the sheets and pulled himself up. He quickly shook his head, ridding himself of all fleeting thoughts about his nightmare. He walked into the kitchen only 5 minutes later, feeling slightly better than when he had just woken up. He could notice his anxiety spiking though, and he just hoped it would calm down through the day. Muttering a small goodmorning to May he started making himself some breakfast. He took a long, hard look at the stack of pancakes lying in front of him, feeling like he wouldn’t be able to stomach much at the moment, but trying to take a few bites anyway. May’s expectant eyes on him were very noticeable as he took his first couple of bites. The pancakes weren’t actually all that bad, which he also told May. The small triumphant smile that formed on her face managed to make Peter feel a little better too. Not long after he was stumbling out of their apartment he took a look at his watch and smiled. He had more than enough time to get to school, so he needed not to rush. Maybe today wouldn’t be so bad after all.

 

* * *

 

He had been wrong. He had been so,  _ so  _ wrong. It was only second period, but Peter’s anxiety was through the roof. His spider senses didn’t really help either. He flinched at each small noise or movement in close proximity to him, even Ned with whom he usually felt safe and fine was triggering his spider senses. Ned seemed to have noticed this because he had made it his job to be as quiet as possible and make no sudden movements. Peter couldn’t be more grateful for his best friend, but it didn’t erase the fact that the rest of the class was noisy as hell. Sure, they weren’t allowed to talk at loud at the moment, but Peter could hear every whisper and the scratching of pens on paper. It made him feel more on edge, and it was only after he had requested to go to the restroom that he got a break. He made his way into a toilet stall and locked the door behind him. He closed his eyes and took deep breaths, scrunching his nose at the not so pleasant smell of the restroom, but glad there was not as much noise nonetheless. It was only when there were no distractions around that his mind had time to catch up on him. With his eyes closed, flashes of last nights dream came back to him. A gun, blood, screaming, all horrible things that indeed belonged in nightmares. He tried to regulate his breathing but everytime he thought he was fine another wave of panic would come crashing over him. It made him feel impossibly small as he slid down the stall door until he was sitting on the ground. He tried to focus on things that were real. Things he could see and touch. He could feel the cold restroom floor beneath him, he could see the toilet, he could see all of the markings made on the walls of the stall, he could feel something wet against his fingers- Wait, what?

 

Peter pulled his hand back in disgust as quick as he could. He had touched something wet on the restroom floor, and he really didn’t want to know what is was. He quickly got up and rushed out of the stall so he could wash his hands while using ungodly amounts of soap. When he finally felt like his hand was clean enough again he made to exit the restroom, only now noticing that is heartbeat had calmed down. It may have been disgusting, but at least it had been useful.

 

The hardest part of the day was during lunch break. There were so many people talking loudly, munching on their food, moving around and yelling as well. It quickly became clear to Ned and MJ that Peter really didn’t feel that great, which was when they decided to move outside with their food. It was rather cold outside, but Peter had never been happier with the cold wind meeting his skin. He felt like he could breathe again and gave an appreciative nod to his friends which was returned with reassuring smiles. MJ and NEd quickly launched in a soft conversation about their Physics homework while Peter gladly listened. This he could do.

 

* * *

 

It had been a long day filled with complaints from Ned about how Peter should just go home, but he managed to make it to the last period of the day. He was supposed to go to Mister Stark this afternoon as it was friday, but he wasn’t quite sure how much work he would get done in this state. He just hoped his anxiety would calm down once he’d be with his childhood hero in a place where he felt safe. 

 

The school bell rung, notifying everyone that it was time to get out of class and go home, and Peter cringed at the sound but managed to keep it together. Ned wordlessly helped him get through the crowd of people and he was happy to get a breath of fresh air again once he was outside.

 

“You should just tell Mister Stark you know, it’s not like he’ll get angry at you.” Peter nodded mindlessly at Ned’s words, already having heard them multiple times today. Ned only went on his way home after Peter promised him he wouldn’t overwork himself. He couldn’t help but smile as he waved Ned goodbye, knowing damn well he was lucky to have such a caring friend.

 

As he turned around to the parking area he noticed that Happy wasn’t there yet. Huh. Happy had never showed up late, but for everything’s a first. Traffic was probably really bad. 

 

Peter shrugged to himself, he could wait, he wasn’t an impatient person. At least, that’s what he tried to tell himself after he had been waiting for 15 minutes, an uneasy feeling settling in his stomach. All of the other students had left school already so he was all alone, waiting for Happy to pick him up. Shaking his head Peter decided to try and distract himself from any bad thoughts that might come his way. He fished his phone out of his back pocket and took a moment to smile at his lockscreen. It’s a picture of him, Ned and Mister Stark pulling silly faces at the camera. He’s still not quite sure how they got Mister Stark to take the picture, but he’s glad they did. He quickly unlocked his phone just to open the Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp app. It was a silly thing, but it always seemed to ease his anxiety, giving him something other to focus on, yet nothing serious enough to get stressed out. Besides, the characters were stupid cute. 

 

After playing the game for a good 10 minutes he noticed it was starting to get colder. Now he really did start to worry. He hadn’t received a message from Happy informing him that he would be late, and him sending Happy a message wouldn’t help much either if the man was driving. The cold wind he had previously been very grateful for now sent shivers up his spine. Thoughts started to run through his head. So many things could have gone wrong. Happy could have crashed the car, there could be an attack going on in the city right at that moment while he knew nothing about it, the car could have broken down on the side of the road with Happy all alone and cold and unprotected and-

 

“Hey kid! You okay?”

 

Peter was shaken up from his thoughts by Happy’s concerned face staring at him from the car. He must have really been out of it if he hadn’t noticed the man pulling up to the school. He quickly nodded at the older man before getting into the car, happy to feel the warmth envelope him as a cozy blanket. He curled up at the corner of his seat, unusually quiet for a friday afternoon. Happy shot him an odd look through the rearview mirror but decided against mentioning it.

 

“I’m sorry I was late. There was some really bad traffic on the way over here, but it should be fine on our way back.” Happy was still looking at him as he was talking, a frown appearing on his face. 

 

Before he could say anything else Peter nodded and offered him a small smile. “It’s okay, I already thought something like that.”  _ Liar. _ It wasn’t a complete lie, it had been the first thought that had shot through his head, all of the other bad irrational thoughts just had managed to push it out of his mind.

 

Happy gave him a nod before starting up the car again and Peter gratefully let himself lean against the car window. He could take a little nap before they would arrive at their destination. Within 10 seconds he was out like a light, and in hindsight that hadn’t been one of his smartest decisions. 

 

_ It was cold and dark, and all Peter could see were the two glowing lights in the distance, moving closer to him every second. It was as if fog had surrounded him, making it unable for him to see anything clearly. He tried to move towards the lights, not wanting to be alone anymore, but he couldn’t move. Or maybe he did move, but then everything around him moved along with him. It was only when the lights were really close that he could see what they were. The headlamps of a car, rushing towards him at full speed. He tried to scream, but no noise came out. The only thing he could do was wait for the inevitable, closing his eyes, hoping it would be over quickly. When the crash didn’t come he slowly opened an eye, peaking around. He wasn’t in the dark anymore. He was in a convenience store, one that looked really familiar for some reason. _

 

_ “Peter, hide.” _

 

_ It was the whisper, spoken in an all too familiar voice that made him turn around and face the horrible events unfolding in the convenience store. There were three men standing in front of the store, none of them seemed to notice him. Ben was keeping his hands raised in the air as one of the two other guys waved his gun at him, the third guy currently grabbing whatever he could get his hands on. It all looked so horribly familiar. When the guy with the gun turned his head to meet Peter’s eyes he felt his heart drop. He knew that guy. He tried to yell at Ben to get out of there, to run away as fast as possible, but he still couldn’t manage to get a word out of his throat. He tried to run towards him, and although he was able to move now, his movements were slow and sluggish as if in slow motion. He watched as the guy turned his gaze back to Ben, gun still raised to his head. It was only a matter of seconds before he pulled the trigger, but to Peter it felt like an eternity. He tried to get closer, to protect his uncle, but he couldn’t move any faster, the trigger had already been pulled and the bullet had already pierced- _

 

“Kid! Hey kid, wake up!”

 

Peter shot up in blind panic as a hand held firmly onto his shoulder. It was only after a few moments that he realised he had been woken up by Happy and that he was probably still in the car.

 

He took a deep breath and slowly opened his eyes, blinking away the haze before them as he tried to focus on where they were. The car was standing still at the side of the road, other cars passing them by. Happy had turned around in the driver's seat and looked at him with what Peter could only describe as worried eyes. Happy was usually a master at keeping his emotions in check, but Peter could see that he was relieved that Peter had finally woken up.

 

“What-” Peter managed to croak out, his voice way too scratchy for him to finish the sentence. When did his throat become so dry?

 

Happy offered him a water bottle. “You were screaming.”

 

Peter gratefully took a few sips, noticing that his hands were shaking  _ way  _ too much for it to be normal. “I was sleeping.”

 

“Yeah, well, you were screaming in your sleep, as well as thrashing around. Bad dream?”

 

Peter swallowed down the lump in his throat as he nodded. “Yeah, something like that. I’m sorry for scaring you.”

 

Happy shook his head before turning around to sit properly in his seat again. “You didn’t scare me kid, I just wanted to be sure nothing was wrong.”

 

Peter smiled softly when he realised Happy had really been worried about him, that was very sweet and kind of unexpected, but his smile quickly disappeared when memories of his dream came back to him. Yeah, okay, maybe he wasn’t really feeling fine.

 

Happy had already pulled up on the highway again, and Peter noted that they were pretty close to their destination. He took a deep breath and tried to steady his breathing, focusing once again on what he could see and touch. It didn’t really help that his hands wouldn’t stop shaking and that his stomach felt like it was filled with nerves, but he thinks he did alright.

 

When they finally arrived Peter was having some trouble with buckling out his seat belt, his hands shaking too much. When he finally managed to free himself from the restricting belt Happy had already opened the car door for him. He offered Peter a strange look which Peter choose to ignore as he got out of the car.

 

“You sure you’re alright?”

 

“Yeah, don’t worry, I’ll be fine.”  _ As long as I don’t fall asleep,  _ he added mentally.

 

Happy took him in for a moment, but shrugged, making a motion for him to hurry up. “Well, Mister Stark is waiting for you. I already informed him that we would be having some delay.”

 

After Peter nodded and thanked Happy he made his way into the building, jumping a little at the voice of FRIDAY welcoming him. “Welcome back Peter, do you want me to inform boss that you’ve arrived?” 

 

Peter shook his head, knowing that FRIDAY could see him. “No, thank you FRI. If you could tell me where he currently is though, that would be great.”

 

“Mister Stark is currently in his lab working on the spider-man suit.”

 

Peter shot some tired finger guns at the ceiling as he thanked Friday for the information. Man, he really had to calm his nerves a little if he was to see Mister Stark. He quickly made his way over to the closest restroom, splashing some cold water in his face. He repeated the mantra May would always tell him after a particularly bad nightmare in his head.  _ You’re okay, you’re safe, no one is hurt, everything is fine. You’re okay, you’re safe, no one is hurt, everything is fine.You’re okay, you’re safe, no one is hurt, everything is- _

 

“Mister Stark has requested your presence.” Friday’s warm voice echoed of the white walls, interrupting Peter’s train of thought.

 

“I thought that you wouldn’t inform him that I had arrived?” It was more of a question than a statement, Peter not feeling sure about a lot of things at the moment.

 

“Someone else seemed to have informed him of your presence in the building.”

 

Peter let out a sigh, it had probably been Happy. He gathered himself before answering the AI. “Tell him I’ll be right up.” A look in the mirror told Peter that he was paler than usual, looking a bit sickish, but not enough to alert Mister Stark. Peter knew he was losing some of his self preservation when he muttered “let’s get this bread” under his breath while looking at himself in the mirror, but he couldn’t bring himself to care. He made his way over to the elevator that would bring him up to the floor where Mister Stark’s lab resided.

 

When the doors slid open Tony was already waiting for him, looking a bit impatient but nonetheless happy to see him. “Hey kid, what took you so long? I’ve been waiting all day to show you some of the new features in your suit, come on!” Tony didn’t even give Peter a chance to say something as he was already dragging the boy towards his lab, an arm slung across his shoulders.

 

Peter was still in awe every time he entered Tony’s lab. He still couldn’t believe he was allowed to work in here with The Tony Stark. He should have been used to it by now, but he would always remain a little star struck. At the moment, however, he wasn’t feeling up to it. Tony kept making big gestures with his hand, explaining what he had added to the suit, but Peter couldn’t follow what he had been saying. 

 

“Why don’t you put it on and try it out?” Tony looked at him expectantly, oblivious to the fact that Peter had absolutely no idea what he had been talking about for the last 5 minutes.

 

Peter cleared his throat, wishing he had taken the water bottle with him, “Ah, I’m sorry Mister Stark, I wasn’t focusing. I don’t know...” he trailed off, gesturing towards the suit as a sheepish look appeared on his face.

 

Tony frowned at the kid’s weird behaviour as Peter would usually hang from his lips, wanting to hear every word he was saying. Now that he took a better look at the kid he looked a little pale, eyes unfocused. “You alright Pete? You look a little white.”

 

“I am white.”

 

Peter’s answer left him chuckling a little. “Yeah, alright, fair point.” Tony couldn’t help but frown though, taking note of the way Peter was worrying his bottom lip between his teeth. “You know that if you aren’t feeling up to it or something you can just tell me, we can always do this some other time.” Peter seemed to not like his answer as he quickly shook his head at Tony’s words, waving his hands in front of his face.

 

“No, please Mister Stark, I’m sorry. I promise I’ll pay attention. Please don’t send me away. I just want to help out and be here I don’t- I didn’t mean to- I just wanted” Peter gasped for air, not quite sure when or why he had ran out of breath this quickly. He was about to continue his rambling but got cut off by Tony placing both of his hands on Peter’s shoulders. He leveled Peter with a serious look that made Peter want to look anywhere else but Tony’s face, but it seemed he didn’t have much choice in the matter.

 

“Peter,  _ chill _ . It’s okay, I’m not angry at you or anything like that.” Tony inspected the kid, noticing that his breathing was still shallow and that his chest was moving up and down way too quickly. “Okay, hey,  _ woah _ . Take a breath. It’s okay. You’re fine, come on, take a deep breath.”

 

Peter tried his best to follow Tony’s instructions, breathing in and out at a much slower pace than first. He had been on the brink of a panic attack all day and now he was having one in front of his childhood idol, could this day get any worse?

 

“Daddy?”

 

Oh, it really could.

 

Tony turned around, one of his hands still placed on Peter’s shoulders, so he could face his daughter. “What are you doing here Morgan? I told you the labs are way too dangerous for you to be wandering about.” He threw an angry look at the ceiling, “Besides, I thought I had FRIDAY restrict all access to the labs for you.” 

 

Peter wanted for a hole to appear in the floor so the ground would swallow him up whole. He wasn’t only having a panic attack in front of Mister Stark, but also in front of his daughter. Peter considered Morgan family and had babysitted many times, but she was way younger than him and he didn’t want to look weak in front of her. He quickly turned around so his back was faced towards Mister Stark and Morgan, shrugging off Tony’s hand in the process.

 

“Well, FRIDAY told me I should come here. She said that Peter needed me!” Morgan’s voice sounded stern, almost as if letting Tony know she wasn’t going anywhere. Her words left and awfully long silence in their wake, Peter not even daring to take a breath.

 

“I don’t understand,” Tony finally said, “Why would she tell you that?”

 

Before Morgan could answer, FRIDAY interrupted. “I noticed that Peter was exhibiting signs of a panic attack. His heart rate was too high. The person Peter usually feels most calm with is Morgan, so I requested her presence. It would most probably help Peter’s heart rate slow down.”

 

Peter wasn’t quite sure what FRIDAY was going on about, he  _ definitely  _ felt more stressed now that Morgan was here as well. He curled up on himself, willing his hands to just  _ stop shaking, _ but it didn’t help much. He noticed his breathing pattern getting irregular again when he suddenly felt a small hand placed on his leg, tugging at his pants. He looked down at the little girl staring at him and offered her a shaky smile. “H-Hey Morgan. Don’t worry about me, I- I’m fine.” His words were met with a huff and Morgan looked at him as if she didn’t believe a single word of what he had just said. She tugged at his pants again, motioning for him to squat down till they were on the same eye level.

 

“You are crying.”

 

The statement was simple and concise, but it made Peter flinch back in surprise. Was he really? He brought one of his hands up to his face, only now noticing that they were wet with tears. “Oh.”

 

Morgan rolled her eyes before taking Peter’s shaking hand in hers. “It’s okay, I cry sometimes too! And you and daddy and mommy always wipe my tears away.” She moved one of her hands to his face, wiping some of the tears away, before giving him a toothy smile. “I don’t want you to be upset, I want you to be happy! Because if you aren’t happy then I can’t be happy either.” she then pointed to Tony was taking in the whole scene with disbelief. “And daddy gets upset as well when you are not happy.”

 

Tony let out a sputtering noise, but Morgan ignored him in favour of cupping peter’s face in her small hands. “I always feel better after a hug! Do you want a hug?”

 

Peter really couldn’t do anything else except for nodding, and before he knew it there were two tiny arms clamped around his neck. He carefully put his own arms around the little girl, unconsciously pulling her closer. He breathed in the smell of her shampoo, something soft and fruity, and felt himself calm down a little. They sat like that for awhile, PEter feeling himself calm down a little. He must have accidentally breathed against her neck however, because as she pulled away a little, giggling. “That tickles!”

 

Peter smiled at her, the first genuine smile he could muster since arriving at the tower. “Oh, does it now?” He looked at Morgan as she nodded, still giggling quietly. “Well, I bet it doesn’t tickle as much as this does.” Before the girl had even any time to escape his clutches he started to tickle her sides, Morgan beginning to laugh uncontrollably.

 

“No! Peter! Sto-Stop!” Every word was accompanied with a laugh, making the smile on Peter’s face grown even bigger.

 

“You want me to show mercy on you?”

 

Morgan nodded as she giggled breathlessly, “Yes please!”

 

“Hmm, fine. But only because you give the best hugs known to mankind.” Peter stopped tickling the girl and she fell against his chest, smiling but exhausted from laughing too much. Peter couldn’t help but ruffle her hair, a habit he had picked up from every other adult in his life who always did it to him. He looked up when he heard someone clearing their throat and suddenly remembered Mister Stark was in the room with them as well. Tony had an eyebrow raised, smiling at the spectacle that had unfolded in front of his eyes, but he shoot Peter a questioning look _ “are you okay?” _

 

Peter nodded, offering him a smile before picking Morgan up in his arms. He could still feel the anxiety in his stomach, but at least the lump that had formed in his throat had disappeared. “I think  _ Morguna _ and I are gonna go upstairs and watch a movie with some popcorn.” He booped her nose as he called her Morguna, making her giggle again before resting her head on his shoulder. “At least, if that’s alright with you Mister Stark.”

 

Tony couldn’t help the fond smile creeping onto his face as he waved them off. “You kids go have fun, just leave some popcorn for me, yeah?”

 

Morgan cheered quietly and waved at her father over Peter’s shoulder before they both disappeared out of view. Tony shook his head as he addressed his AI. “I don’t know how you knew it would, but it worked FRIDAY. Nice Job.” It was almost as if he could detect a smile in the AI’s voice when she answered. “Thank you boss.”

 

It was after an hour and a half that Tony decided he had worked enough for today and made his way over to the living space. The end credits from some animated movie were rolling on the TV screen and the bowl of popcorn was left half empty on the table. He laughed at the view in front of him, observing the sleeping couple. He didn’t know how he ended up with two kids, but he really couldn’t complain. Peter was stretched out over the couch, covered with a blanket with one leg sticking out. Drool was escaping his mouth as it always did when he was asleep. Morgan was curled up on his chest, covered by the same blanket as Peter but also an arm he had wrapped around her. It was a precious sight, and if Tony took a picture of the two, curled up on the couch together, well he couldn’t really blame himself. He made sure to send it to May and Pepper as well.

**Author's Note:**

> I saw Endgame twice and it made me sad so I'm here to post some cute Peter and Morgan interactions. This is based on my own experience with anxiety. Let's get this bread.


End file.
